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Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson broke the major league baseball color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The Monday Movie Matinee will show “42,” the film about Robinson’s first year in the majors, on January 20 at 1 pm. Starring Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, the film shows some of the obstacles Robinson faced from fans, teammates, and the public.

If you’d like to know more about Jackie Robinson and the early history of baseball, check out some of these titles.

Color Blind: the forgotten team that broke baseball’s color line by Tom DunkelDuring the Great Depression, in drought stricken Bismarck, North Dakota, one of the most improbable teams in the history of baseball was assembled by one of the sport's most unlikely champions. A decade before Jackie Robinson broke into the Major Leagues, car dealer Neil Churchill signed the best players he could find, regardless of race, and fielded an integrated squad that took on all comers in spectacular fashion.

Branch Rickey by Jimmy BreslinA bestselling author remembers the man who integrated baseball. The idea of integrating baseball began as a dream in the mind of Branch Rickey. In 1947, as president and general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, he defied racism on and off the field to bring Jackie Robinson into the major leagues, changing the sport and the nation forever.

Opening Day: the story of Jackie Robinson’s first season by Jonathan EigDrawing on interviews with surviving players, sportswriters, and eyewitnesses, as well as newly discovered material from archives around the country, Jonathan Eig presents a fresh portrait of a ferocious competitor who embodied integration's promise and helped launch the modern civil-rights era.

Jackie Robinson: a biography by Arnold RampersandDetails the life of the first African American to play baseball in the major-leagues, Jackie Robinson.